Sun Mote Copse dreamstate

It kind of felt like the old days, when Bat had been happy to sprawl on the ground and let the world pass her by. Tegan became a leader; her mother became pregnant; and her nomi became dead. Bat felt like an ass for laughing at the terrible grammar that flitted through her head. She grimaced and shook her head at herself. She had loved nomi so much back in the day, she'd gone after her and upended her entire life. Sometime since that fateful chain of events, Heda had returned to Drageda, then more recently died. She had no idea her nomi had also disowned her somewhere in there for the crime of being a heartbroken child. That was probably a good thing; Bat's emotions were confusing enough already as she tried to figure out how the hell to feel about everything.

She rolled from her back to her side and considered getting to her feet. She should go do something. Instead, Bat just lay there, truly feeling as if she'd gone back in time or at the very least regressed. Her whole body just felt so heavy as she thought, Is nomi really dead? Gone forever? And is mom really having more kids? What the fuck, man? Just what the fuck...

Without even realizing what she was doing, operating as if on autopilot, Bat did climb onto all fours. She then wandered across the plateau, descended the northern ramp into the neighboring thicket and began meandering east. She was still lost in her thoughts as her feet carried her toward her mother's and sister's realm—oh yeah, Kiwi had become a Beta too—and she only really blinked back to awareness as she began to toe the borders.

"What the fuck," Bat said out loud this time, blinking at the copse.

She was patrolling, mostly to keep her mind off the fact that she hadn't been able to plan that hunt yet.  Her head still hurt, and she was starting to forget what it was like to not have the pounding in her skull.  She kept mostly quiet about it, but it was apparent in her slightly more churlish than usual behavior to anyone who she interacted with regularly.

It had to go away eventually. She frowned, then winced as a particular wave of it passed over her.  Maybe she should go see Eljay.  Whatever he gave her usually helped some, as infrequently as she tried to go get it.

Just as she'd decided she was going to go back, she spotted Bat.  She froze for a second, surprised, but didn't move to go any closer.  She didn't care if Bat came and went, not really... and with that thought she turned, and made to do as she planned before - go find Eljay.

this can be a cameo if she wouldn't stop her <3

How the fuck had she walked all the way here without really realizing it? She was so busy marveling over this that she didn't even notice Kiwi's arrival and subsequent departure. Only after her sister had already come and gone did a whiff of her scent—stronger than the fading markers along the borderline—slip into her nose. Bat jerked, blinking around at the nearby scenery, yet she didn't see any sign of the Regent. Her brow furrowed as she ran her tongue over her teeth, then swirled it against her inner cheek, almost as if literally chewing on her thoughts.

She could call for her sister directly, or her mother. But Bat was still a little astounded at her own presence here. She made a move as if to turn only to abort it. Well, she'd made the journey all the way here, so she may as well visit with Wildfire at the least. Her mother hadn't seen too torn up by the news about nomi, though that wasn't altogether surprising. She'd moved on now, with Eljay, and they were going to start a family together. That was one of those things about which she had no idea how to feel and this apparent gridlock in her head resulted in her just continuing to stand there stupidly at the edge of the copse.

The story group really helped to get Maia's spirits up a bit, but it was still likely to be a while before her old cheer was back full force.  So it was a quieter, if not completely useless, Maia who ran across Bat while she was doing her whole hesitate thing.

Oh.  Um, hi?  Having never Met Bat, she was more than a little confused by the other wolf's  presence and behavior, and it showed.  Was she expecting someone?  I'm Maia.  Do you need something?  Wasn't every day she came across strangers just standing there without calling.  Maybe she was lost.

This time, the appearance of someone else managed to snap Bat out of it. She blinked, shook her head and then ducked it respectfully. A sheepish sort of look crept over her face as she admitted, "Oh, uh, no. I kinda wandered here on accident." She paused, still feeling taken aback by what could only be described as some sort of fugue state.

And now it was making a fool out of her. Clearing her throat, Bat glanced up from beneath half-lidded eyes and said, "Maia," and then, again, "Maia. Your name is familiar. I think my mom's mentioned you. Do you have a sister named—" But Bat couldn't remember the other one's name, at least for a beat. Then it came to her: "Wraen!" Her tail began to wave as she added, "I'm Bat, one of Wildfire's kids."

Wait, she was one of Wildfire's kids?  Maia didn't recall her being mentioned (she probably was at some point) and, even worse, definitely didn't recall her being here.  That meant she was sisters with the Regent too... who Maia didn't much like, all said and done.  She was super rude and had snapped at her just the other day for something dumb.

Now she was at a loss.  Oh, okay.  Nice to meet you.  Maybe you were like, subconscious patrolling or something?  How had she never seen her before? It didn't even occur to Maia that Bat didn't smell like the copse.  She'd been pretty out of it for the past week or so also, and wasn't quite on her a-game yet.

If she was trying to improve her image, Bat wasn't gaining much ground. "Oh, no, I don't live here. I live with the Redhawks," she explained, then confessed, "I must've been in a trance or something. Last thing I knew, I was slothing around on the plateau. Then, boom! I'm here." She shook her head lightly. "That's not normal for me."

But that wasn't really Maia's problem and she seemed a little uncertain how to deal with Bat's presence here. "It's nice to meet you too, by the way. Not sure if you've ever met Towhee but your markings kinda remind me of hers." Well, there was a useless fact. "Anyway, I guess I don't need anything, so I'll stop wasting your time," she said with a friendly (and still slightly) sheepish smile.

You don't?  That's we- cool.  she corrected, though likely not quick enough.  The 'weird' was an auto reaction.  Her mom lived here, and her sister, but she didn't?  She tried to imagine just living in a neighboring place to her family and couldn't... and then gave herself a major sad again.  Yikes.

It's fine, I've never met her.  She craned her neck to look, hopefully to distract herself and hide her expression from Bat for a second.  She didn't give much thought to what her markings looked like usually.  I haven't been by Redhawks, last time I stopped by it was kinda off.  Do you want me to find your mom or sister or something?

Bat would've declined the offer to summon her mother or her sister—as if Kiwi would want anything to do with her—but she couldn't help but react to something in the immediately preceding sentence. "Nah," she replied absently, then pressed, "what do you mean by 'kinda off'?"

I ran into this guy who was super rude about helping me find my sister. I'm sure it'd be different now I just haven't had a reason to go back, she responded a tad sheepishly.  She hadn't been planning on mentioning that little bit because a year was a long time, but she'd let it slip enough for Bat to ask so it was too late now.

Speaking of weird - definitely weird for Bat to just kinda show up here and not want to visit any of her family or see anyone aside from her random self.  Lucky for her, Maia was feeling a good deal less inquisitive today and definitely didn't want to dig down into any family drama. So she let it be at her own explanation.

If Maia hadn't said "guy," Towhee would have come to mind immediately. Bat wondered at the identity of said wolf, though her acquaintance didn't offer a name and Bat didn't ask for one.

Before the youth could offer a final farewell and departure, a familiar flash of red appeared behind Maia. "Bat!" Wildfire cried, her tone one of pleasant surprise. "What brings you here? Is everything okay?" The Sovereign shuffled closer, bobbing her head at Maia before training concerned eyes upon her daughter.

"Ah, hey, mom. Yeah, everything's fine. I was just out meandering and I guess I gravitated here." And now that Wildfire was here, Bat decided she should stick around for a visit, even a brief one. Her eyes stuck on her mother's slightly rounded flanks for a beat before returning to her face. "Guess I could hang for a few, if you have time?"

"Of course," Wildfire said immediately, glancing at Maia. "We could take a walk along the borders. You're welcome too, Maia."

She was saved from any awkwardness by Wildfire arriving, to her massive relief.  Normally Maia would not be one to intrude on a family thing like this, but since being alone sucked right now, she took the offering immediately.

Sure.  She was going to do that anyway.  Well, kinda.  If you don't mind? She did feel like she had to verify, though the hopeful note at the end was unmistakeable.  Suddenly, ice flooded her.  Had she told Wildfire about their mom?  Her and Wraen had been so upset and after it hadn't really been a thought.... and now the Soveirgn seemed so happy, with her daughter.  Actually, umm, maybe not.  But can we talk later?  She directed this at Wildfire.

Was Mercury in retrograde or something? Bat blinked a few times as Maia initially took Wildfire up on her offer, then reneged a breath later. The yearling's head cocked, though she didn't say anything. Nor did the Sovereign, except to say, "Sure, we'll catch up later. I'll come find you after Bat's done visiting."

The redhead then turned and faced Bat, who gave her mother a halfhearted smile. She was glad to see her and spend time with her, despite the impromptu (and quite frankly bewildering) nature of her trip here. "How're things?" Bat asked as they fell into step, the flow of conversation coming easily as they sauntered away along the copse's fringe.